Ou Yunchen put down his phone and looked back at the computer. The trending searches were being fanned hotly by the paparazzi Fan Zhijie.
What about AtL regrouping, what industry insiders were praising AtL, what AtL's cooperation with Dexin Company, what AtL's investment in nuclear power plant projects...
It was always all positive signals, as if the recent downturn were just a fleeting cloud!
Someone knocked on the conference room door. It was Crystal.
Ou Yunchen sat there, watching Lawyer Ma walk in, and smiled faintly, as if he had long expected that he would one day return to AtL.
Lawyer Ma: "Take a look, will you?"
Ou Yunchen picked up the beautiful invitation card, which read an invitation to attend the nuclear power plant project launch ceremony.
Lawyer Ma: "The hotel has confirmed the date, and they said they would arrange it for us first."
Ou Yunchen: "No problem."
Lawyer Ma: "However, my only concern is that our date clashes with Xie Youlin's, and your guest list also clashes. Are your classmates sure they can make it?"
Ou Yunchen: "That depends on whether they know what's good for them."
Lawyer Ma: "Would it be better if I announced your return to AtL now?"
Ou Yunchen: "I want to see their shocked expressions with my own eyes, and how they will face Xie Youlin's face during the next training session."
Lawyer Ma: "You are truly ruthless. Be careful of Xie Youlin's revenge."
Lawyer Ma: "By the way, don't you need an office?"
Ou Yunchen: "Find me at Xi Ou next time."
With that, Ou Yunchen got up to leave.
Crystal opened the conference room door for Ou Yunchen.
Ou Yunchen: "Mr. Ma, there's something I need to ask of you."
Lawyer Ma: "What?"
Ou Yunchen: "Please take good care of Crystal. Not being able to take her with me is my regret."
Lawyer Ma glanced at Crystal, who was blushing slightly, and then rolled his eyes at Ou Yunchen.
Lawyer Ma: "Still haven't changed! Do you think I'd eat your little secretary!"
Ou Yunchen: "Are you packed?"
Ruby: "Yes."
Ou Yunchen: "Then we'll leave first. If you need anything, please contact my secretary."
That's right, Ou Yunchen took Ruby with him.
Although Crystal was also an excellent secretary, her identity had already been exposed.
Xu Shuming would no longer trust Crystal. If Ou Yunchen took her with him, it would only make Xu Shuming more cautious, like a clam. Once it closed itself for self-protection, there would be no way to pry it open!
***
In the evening, Ou Yunchen arrived at Lan Gongzi. After Colin left, Lan Gongzi resumed its usual business.
Waiter: "Mr. Ou, Sister Lan asked you to wait in her office first."
It seemed that the guests for tonight had already arrived, and Sister Lan was busy entertaining them.
A moment later, Sister Lan arrived at the office.
Sister Lan: "Why don't you turn on the light?"
With a click, the office lights were turned on, illuminating everything. Sister Lan then saw Ou Yunchen sitting on the sofa, tilting his head back and resting with his eyes closed.
Ou Yunchen: "It's easier to think in the dark."
Sister Lan chuckled and walked to the bar to ask what he would like to drink.
Ou Yunchen: "If I drink, I can't drive."
Sister Lan: "You can be this rule-abiding too."
Ou Yunchen: "I'm an honest person now."
Sister Lan took out a file bag from a drawer in the coffee table and handed it to Ou Yunchen.
Sister Lan: "This is all the information we could find."
This bag contained the profiles of the big players who attended the class with Ou Yunchen.
Some of them were of particular interest to Ou Yunchen, or entrepreneurs who had a very high chance of being won over and working together in the future.
So, according to sales practice, the most important thing wasn't what to sell, but to first understand the preferences of the person with the power to purchase!
Negotiating with people of this caliber was definitely not just about work, as ordinary people with limited vision might think!
Because they only needed to find someone below to handle the matter of a salesperson coming to sell something, Ou Yunchen had to tailor his approach and only talk about what they liked to hear!
Sister Lan: "How is the investigation at the education center going?"
Ou Yunchen shook his head and sighed softly.
Ou Yunchen: "It's not going well. I started with Ruan Miaomiao, but found that he was ostracized from the circle and was just an ordinary worker."
Sister Lan: "Ruan Miaomiao was placed there by his mother. You didn't even know?"
Ou Yunchen: "That little fat guy must have asked indirectly, but was told not to meddle."
Sister Lan: "Then the higher-ups intentionally put the education center into the safe zone!"
Ou Yunchen: "I think... I might be approaching this from the wrong direction."
Sister Lan: "How so?"
Ou Yunchen: "I want to investigate why Song Yuandong is protecting the education center."
Sister Lan: "Or is she protecting the Xie family?"
Sister Lan's words struck Ou Yunchen. He clearly remembered Xie Youlin letting slip something once!
He said that he and Mo Qingyun grew up together, and that Mo Qingyun grew up in an orphanage. Xie Youlin was the son of the Xie family...
So at that time, Ou Yunchen thought that Xie Youlin was very likely not born into the Xie family, especially since he didn't look like anyone from the Xie family at all!
Ou Yunchen: "Tell me more about the Xie family."
Sister Lan recounted what she knew in detail to Ou Yunchen. The suspicious point seemed to be after Xie Youlin fell from upstairs!
Madam Xie also went mad around that time. When everyone thought the Xie family's son was dead, he reappeared many years later...
Hong Tian's explanation was that his son was injured when he fell, and after becoming deaf, he went abroad for surgery and recuperated for a few years before returning.
So, Xie Youlin's ability to use sign language could also be explained...
Sister Lan: "You suspect Xie Youlin isn't biologically related?"
Ou Yunchen: "Just a suspicion."
Sister Lan: "Completely impossible. Xie Hongtian cherishes this son immensely, and Xie Youlin has already inherited Xie's Media. He doesn't look like an adopted son at all."
Ou Yunchen: "Perhaps I should meet Song Yuandong."
Sister Lan: "Speaking of which, there's something I'm curious about."
Ou Yunchen raised his eyes, and Sister Lan continued, "Do you really trust Lawyer Ma that much? She was always making things difficult for you, and you just accepted her like this?"
Ou Yunchen: "Because I can afford to lose. Being driven out of AtL by her looked like Lawyer Ma won, but it was actually me who bore the low cost of losing, so it became my advantage."
"Until the AtL crisis occurred, she had to weigh the pros and cons, and the result was that she had to voluntarily withdraw."
"That way, when she realized she shouldn't have competed with me, I taught her that she should follow the order, and that I was the one who set the order. Naturally, in the end, I was the one who walked the smooth path."
Sister Lan: "You are truly ruthless! Driving away fellow travelers to enjoy the fruits alone, using a small effort to gain a large advantage!"
Ou Yunchen: "AtL was founded by me. Does anyone really think I would just hand it over? If I don't plant some nails in front, how can I live up to the hard work of these years?"
Seemingly nonchalant, Ou Yunchen did not expect anyone to understand. He had always played with schemes and set his own rules of the game to reach this point, so in his world, there were no fellow travelers.
A gap in the window was pulled open, and Ou Yunchen looked down at the people below.
Ou Yunchen: "Who is the person next to Wang Ziran?"
Sister Lan: "Which one?"
As she spoke, Sister Lan also stood up from the sofa and moved closer to the window to look down.
Sister Lan: "Oh, his uncle, Zhou Shenghua, director of the administrative department of the Securities Regulatory Commission."
Ou Yunchen: "Not simple."
Sister Lan: "Don't mess with people like Wang Ziran, no matter who you mess with."
Sister Lan patted Ou Yunchen on the shoulder and prepared to leave to see the guests out.
Sister Lan: "By the way, you should wait until they all leave before you come out."
Ou Yunchen stood by the window, watching the people below. It seemed that Wang Ziran and his uncle had a very good relationship, and they were smiling throughout their conversation.
A moment later, Sister Lan also went to Wang Ziran's side, nodding and shaking hands with Zhou Shenghua. They talked for a long time before Zhou Shenghua was finally sent off in his car.
The first to leave was Zhou Shenghua. Then Wang Ziran watched Zhou Shenghua's car drive away before getting into his own car and leaving Lan Gongzi under Sister Lan's gaze.
Now, it was time for Ou Yunchen to leave. He remembered what Sister Lan had said.
But Ou Yunchen had already been very polite to Wang Ziran, as he had been during the real-life CS game.
His experience told him that violence was a means, not an end, so he finally threw away the paint bomb and chose to end the game peacefully.
If obvious victory meant moving forward with hostility, then this obsession would not lead to success but would only cause harm.
Ou Yunchen believed that in his confrontation with Wang Ziran, he should aim to achieve his goal, not to exterminate him. However, Wang Ziran might not think the same.
If that day ever came, should he still leave him some room to maneuver?
Perhaps only Ou Yunchen was conflicted, because Wang Ziran's meeting with his uncle was not just to maintain a relative relationship, but to make Ou Yunchen act meekly whenever he saw him in the future!